Uniforms and ranks and medals!

[philip.ed]

The sidcot suit is not a sheepskin jacket.
The 'Irvin' jacket is the sheepskin one, made by a number of contracts, most notably Irvin.
The Sidcot suit was developed by Frederick Sidney Cotton OBE (17 June 1894 – 13 February 1969) around 1917 time (IIRC). the pattern in use during the BoB was the 1930 pattern.
Not many fighter pilots wore either in the battle, although many wore the Irvin jacket during the BoF, and Bader notably wore the Sidcot suit.

Does Luthier need all this info? I sent Oleg pages of the stuff, and I detailed each specific item of kit available at the time

[Former_Older]

Originally Posted by philip.ed

Does Luthier need all this info? I sent Oleg pages of the stuff, and I detailed each specific item of kit available at the time

No harm in sending it again is my view!

[Fenrir]

Originally Posted by philip.ed

The sidcot suit is not a sheepskin jacket.
The 'Irvin' jacket is the sheepskin one, made by a number of contracts, most notably Irvin.
The Sidcot suit was developed by Frederick Sidney Cotton OBE (17 June 1894 – 13 February 1969) around 1917 time (IIRC). the pattern in use during the BoB was the 1930 pattern.
Not many fighter pilots wore either in the battle, although many wore the Irvin jacket during the BoF, and Bader notably wore the Sidcot suit.

Does Luthier need all this info? I sent Oleg pages of the stuff, and I detailed each specific item of kit available at the time

Roger that Phil, late night post, the old grey matter not quite the instant recall storage device it once was! Yes i did indeed mean Irvin, not Sidcot in reference to the jacket.

What prompted my point was a lot of screenies showing our Spit/Hurri pilots ensconced in the Irvin jacket in their a/c; I'm trying to find the book - it's here somewhere *rummage* - for the actual quote which prompted my statement.

Seemed an appropriate time to bring it up, discussion on uniforms and such.

[philip.ed]

Yes, sorry if I sounded aggressive mate 'Poor' British weather creating too much trouble hehehe
Yes, I hear you mate. I, too, have read accounts that said how the Irvin was just not suitable for fighter use (unless the weather really was that cold). Although it gets cold upstairs, the Irvin limits head-movement, as you said, which is essential in combat.
In one of Derek Robinson's books, he suggests that the pilots cut the collars off, but I believe this to be a myth. I doubt they'd have wanted to do this to such a prized item anyway
The BoB was quite hot, and many apparently flew in shirts...
Can any flyers comment on this? would this have been unbearably cold, even in the hot summer? I'm not sure whether this is true, or a myth, as many pictures were staged.

[SlipBall]

I would guess that the cockpit would be quite warm, sitting behind that big engine. Plus sunlight tends to heat up such a small area quickly, I experienced this and its a heat wave for sure. Add to this any kind of action, then you would wish to be in a t-shirt.

[philip.ed]

It must be a weird heat. A bit like climbing a mountain. You can sweat to death in your thermals, but once you strip off and re-dress you will start to freeze.
Or, to put it more simply, a bit like doing a cross country run when it's very cold, but a few minutes in you will begin to get very hot.